1. Field of the Present Disclosure
This disclosure relates generally to protective film overlays on glass surfaces and more particularly to a kit and method of use for enabling the installation of such a film on the electronic displays of cell phones and the like.
2. Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98
Warman, U.S. Pat. No. 5,132,588, discloses a viewing screen protective shield that is removably securable in association with a viewing screen, such as LCR screens, as found in fish finders and the like, which are typically exposed to adverse weather conditions. The protective shield is readily removable and replaceable and include convex peripheral edges to conform the shield to the convex screen with an outwardly extending tab formed outwardly of a single corner of the shield to enhance manual grasping thereof. To enhance securement of the shield to the associated screen, a plurality of transparent adhesive strips may be secured to an interior surface of the shield to enhance securement of the transparent shield to the associated screen. Bilkadi et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,677,050, discloses a retroreflective sheeting having an abrasion-resistant ceramer coating that is prepared from about 20% to about 80% ethylenically unsaturated monomers; about 10% to about 50% of acrylate functionalized colloidal silica; and about 5% to about 40% N,N-disubstituted acrylamide or N-substituted-N-vinyl-amide monomer having a molecular weight between 99 and 500 atomic mass units; wherein the percentages are weight percents of the total weight of the coating. A method of coating retroreflective sheeting with an abrasion-resistant cured ceramer layer is also disclosed. Schroeder et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,820,957, discloses an anti-reflective film construction that contains an optically transparent polymeric film having a textured surface and an optically transparent adhesive, the film construction configured to exhibit light transmission of greater than about 70 percent and 60 degree gloss measurement of between about 15 and 100. Methods of producing such film constructions and methods of reducing reflection from a surface are also described. Murakami, U.S. Pat. No. 6,250,765, discloses an antiglare sheet for use with a display of a portable game machine that includes a film element serving as an antiglare film; an adhesive element adapted to affix the film element to a display screen; and a ventilation opening adapted to ventilate a space defined by the display screen and the film element. Kollaja et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,613,411, discloses a multi-layer sheet material that comprises a film, and adhesive layer and an optional release liner. The film is a polyester blend comprising first and second polyesters that are substantially amorphous and possess certain physical properties including softening temperature, E-modulus, elongation and residual stress. Masaki et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,831,714, discloses a protective diffusion film, which does not scratch a lens film and a liquid crystal display device, does not become a refuse source or the like, and also has a suitable level of concealment effect, a process for producing the same, a surface light source device, and a liquid crystal display device. This protective diffusion film is used in a surface light source device provided with a lens film wherein the protective diffusion film is provided on a light outgoing surface of the lens film, and comprises: a transparent substrate layer; and a protective diffusion layer which is provided on the transparent substrate layer in its surface at least on the lens film side, has fine concaves and convexes on its surface, protects members which come into contact with the protective diffusion film, and is light diffusive. Liu et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,841,190, discloses an antisoiling hardcoated film comprising a substantially transparent substrate, a hardcoat layer comprising inorganic oxide particles dispersed in a binder matrix, and an antisoiling layer comprising a perfluoropolyether. The antisoiling layer can be very thin, thus reducing the cost of the perfluoropolyether. The film has very good scratch, smudge and glare resistance and very good interlayer adhesion and durability. The film can be in the form of a single flexible substrate or a stack of such substrates. The film or stack can be sized to fit the display screen of an electronic display device such as a personal digital assistant or cell phone. Gomes, U.S. Pat. No. 6,878,425, discloses a polarized filter film having a plurality of light-filtering layers, each having a different polarization aperture and tint hue that can be selectively combined to form a polarized filter film having a combined opacity rating of 5% to 55% when applied to a transparent medium such as a window. The combined polarized filter film is comprised of a plurality of layers of light-filtering material wherein each layer has a plurality of apertures positioned either vertically or angularly so that the horizontal rays associated with glare are reduced dramatically. Each layer of film has a plurality of slotted apertures that is biased or offset from the overlaying light-filtering film apertures whereby varying degrees of light-blocking properties can be achieved by using the light-filtering films in conjunction with additional layers. The present invention is attached to the transparent medium by using an adhesive which has a removable protective backing layer. Sherman, EP 0539099, discloses a repositionable, self-adhering optical laminate having a thin film optical coating, an organic hardcoat, a thin plastic film substrate, an optical quality, pressure sensitive adhesive and, preferably, a release liner. The pressure-sensitive adhesive is low modulus, self-wetting elastomer which readily wets glass and plastic surfaces such as video display screens, promoting bubble-free mounting. The adhesive has low tack so that bubbles can be removed easily and the laminate can be totally or partially removed and reapplied to correct its positioning and/or to remove bubbles, dirt, etc.
The related art described above discloses a variety of films and coatings for mechanical protection of underlying surfaces, for anti-reflection and for UV protection. However, the prior art fails to disclose a compact kit providing the materials and tools necessary for applying such a film to a surface. The present disclosure distinguishes over the prior art providing heretofore unknown advantages as described in the following summary.